FACTSHEET 5 - TV, Telephones and Electronic Communications

Television

Various devices can be purchased to assist hearing normal television sets for people with a mild hearing loss. These may work through headphones and/or a hearing aid. A domestic loop or a neck loop can be used with a hearing aid or cochlear implant switched to ‘T’. A range of suitable products can be supplied by mail order by RNID Sound Advantage and Connevans Ltd. (See Factsheet 1 for contact details to obtain catalogues).

Subtitles are now provided for most programmes shown on BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channels 4 and 5. The intention is to provide subtitles for 100% of BBC programmes and 90% of ITV programmes “in the near future”. To view subtitles on analogue transmissions you require a set that can receive teletext. Press the TV/text button and then 888 – the screen should return to the programme with subtitles showing the words spoken, usually at the bottom of the screen. Different coloured text is used to denote a different person speaking. Occasionally sound effects are included. Newspapers and journals giving listings of television programmes show which have subtitles, usually with an asterisk [*] or [S] in brackets after the details. In order to view subtitles on pre-recorded VHS video cassettes you need a closed caption decoder, available from Connevans Ltd.

A much smaller number of programmes are broadcast with sign language interpretation, in which a signer is shown on a small inset on the screen.

Reading subtitles from digital transmissions and DVD disks is quite different from the teletext service. Displaying subtitles is achieved by selecting them from the menu using the remote control.

Text telephones

Information on text telephones, including tables of comparative features, is contained in catalogues issued by RNID Sound Advantage and Connevans Ltd. (See Factsheet 1 for contact details). Sound Advantage offers a twenty-eight day money-back guarantee. Prices (2008 figures) range from just under £200 to £400. The more expensive models feature a larger keyboard and display, incorporated printer and answer phone. Textphones supplied by local authority social services, on interest free, extended loan terms will be in the middle of the price range, e.g. a Minicom Pro 400 or Uniphone 1150.

There are a number of communication protocols and until recently it has only been possible to communicate with a textphone that uses the same protocol. The standard in the UK is ITU-T (formerly CCITT) V21 but the standard in America is Baudot. Most textphones now sold in the UK operate on both V21 and Baudot, and this gives better communication possibilities. A new European standard, V18, has been developed, which can communicate with the majority of protocols currently used by textphones, so they are usually V18 compatible. It is hoped that in time all new textphones will be V18 compliant, i.e. will use V18 as their basic protocol.

RNID Typetalk Telephone Relay Service

Prefix to contact Typetalk via BT TextDirect from text phone: 18001; from voice phone: 18002, followed by the full number to call.
Number to contact emergency services (fire, police, ambulance, coastguard) from a text phone: 18000

Mobile phones

A very large selection of mobile phones is now available from High Street retailers, out of town shopping centres and by mail order. The industry is advancing very fast so you need to take great care about choosing a model and methods of payment to make sure that you are purchasing the best system for your needs.

There are basically two methods of payment:
  • Signing a contract in which you agree to make monthly payments for the cost of calls. There is likely to be a minimum time period involved and there may be penalties for terminating the contract. The cost of supplying the phone will be low, and it may even be free.
  • “Pay as you go”. The purchaser is supplied with an identity card which is then used to purchase a fixed amount of credit from the network provider. The cost of each call is deducted automatically from the credit available. It can be topped up by presenting the card at any outlet offering a top up service for the network involved, of which there are a very large number.
Before purchasing a phone and contract with a network provider:
  • Think about why you want the phone and what calls you are likely to make. If it is just for emergencies, a monthly contract is likely to be expensive so you might be better with pay as you go.
  • Will you want to send text messages or go through Typetalk? Keys on some mobiles are very small.
  • Check that the volume is adequate, with and without a hearing aid and that interference isn’t troublesome. Ask if you can make a call to someone you know and see if they will let you take the phone outside to check on traffic noise.
  • Find out whether it is possible to use a neckloop.
You can send a SMS from a mobile phone to any telephone, including your ordinary home landline telephone. Some landline telephones can now be SMS enabled and you can send SMS from those and receive SMS from mobiles as text. If your landline is not SMS enabled the SMS sent from the mobile will be converted to a voice message and delivered to the landline in that way. The phone does not need to be registered for this service and it will work with any phone. If you are out and do not have an answerphone the voice message will be sent at intervals until either it is received or the time limit is reached. The main problem is that the person sending the message cannot be sure it will be received immediately.

Videophones

A new system is available quite cheaply from Dixon’s and Curry’s on most High Streets and many retail parks.

N.B. The information in this factsheet is given in good faith but NADP cannot accept responsibility for any loss, damage or injury resulting from its use.

NADP, PO Box 50, Amersham, Bucks HP6 6XB
E-mail: enquiries@nadp.org.uk
www.nadp.org.uk

Updated February 2008

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